Big 12 Bounce: West Virginia has dominant second half against Texas

Hayden Bonine

Sports Blogger

@HaydenBonine

Texas at West Virginia

mr_t_77/Flickr

West Virginia and Texas were engaged in a heated back-and-forth contest for the first 11 minutes of the game, but West Virginia propelled itself to an 86-51 victory Saturday in Morgantown. After Bob Huggins’ No. 6 Mountaineers were down 20-17 with nearly nine minutes left in the first half, the No. 6 Mountaineers started to gain momentum. WVU ended the half on a 15-2 run to go up 32-22 at halftime. The Mountaineers proceeded to score 54 in the second half. Texas had no player reach double digits in points, and only one Longhorn grabbed more than four rebounds. Jevon Carter’s 22 points, eight assists and four rebounds led WVU to victory. The Longhorns (12-7 overall, 3-4 Big 12) will host Iowa State on Monday. The Mountaineers (16-3, 5-2) will go to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on No. 24 TCU on Monday.

Texas Tech at Iowa State

Iowa State appeared to run away with the game early but then faced a Texas Tech comeback. Still, ISU clinched a 70-52 victory against Texas Tech on Saturday in Ames. The Cyclones were ahead of Texas Tech as much as 31-18 in the first half. However, the No. 8 Red Raiders fought back to take the lead 35-34 with 16:33 left in the second half. ISU wasted no time regaining the lead for good, doing so only 18 seconds later. The Cyclones had five players who scored more than 10 points Cameron Lard led ISU with 18 points. The Red Raiders’ leading scorer was Zhaire Smith with 10 points. With the loss, the Red Raiders (15-4, 4-3) are 1-12 in Big 12 road games dating back to last season. ISU (11-7, 2-5) is 11-7 and tied with Baylor and TCU for the Big 12’s worst conference record.

TCU at Kansas State

Kansas State debuted its two-tone lavender throwback uniforms on Saturday in Manhattan against the No. 24 TCU Horned Frogs. The Wildcats defeated the No. 24 Horned Frogs 73-68. K-State entered the game having thrashed No. 4 Oklahoma 87-69 a few days earlier. TCU found itself down 38-30 at halftime. The Horned Frogs cut the K-State lead to 56-53 with 6:51 left in the second half, but then things started to unravel for TCU. K-State hit a 3, and then TCU coach Jamie Dixon, received his second technical foul, resulting in an ejection. This was Dixon’s first ejection in his 15-year head coaching career. TCU got within two points of the Wildcats twice but was unable to regain the lead, losing 73-68. Kansas State moves to 14-5 and 4-3 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats’ leading scorer was Dean Wade, who had 20 points. Vladimir Brodziansky had a team-high 15 points for TCU. K-State (14-3, 4-3) plays Baylor on Monday in Waco, Texas.TCU (14-5, 2-5) hosts No. 6 West Virginia on Monday.

Baylor at Kansas

Baylor entered Saturday night’s game with no history of victory in Phog Allen Fieldhouse, and the Bears were victims of “The Phog” once again. Kansas edged past Baylor 70-67. The Bears had their opportunities, though. No. 10 KU led from the opening tip until the 5:36 mark of the second half. After gaining the lead, Baylor extended it to 67-61 with under three minutes remaining. The Bears did not score again. KU regained the lead with 1:11 left but nearly lost it when Baylor’s Manu Lacomte missed a short running layup with 4 seconds left. KU’s standout performer was Malik Newman. Newman had 24 points after scoring the Jayhawks’ last 11 points, excluding the last two free throws with one second left. The Bears’ Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. scored 14 points and hauled in 12 rebounds as well. Baylor (12-7, 2-5) hosts Kansas State on Monday. Kansas goes to Norman, Oklahoma to face No. 4 Oklahoma on Tuesday. The Jayhawks (16-3, 6-1) are at the top of the Big 12 standings.